[YodasLuke]

WOW! Aren't you full of questions??!! First of all, welcome to the journey. Remember, it's not a destination. Some of these are very general and I'll answer them as such. I hope it helps.

"The grip- should it be in the PALM of my left hand?"

Yes.

"And how about the right- should it be in the fingers of the right?"

The pad of the first joint of the first finger (#3 pressure point) should be on the aft side of the shaft, and the left thumb should fit in the cup of the right hand. If holding a wooden dowel with only the right hand, it would fit in the cup.

"Also- tight or loose?"

Your hands are clamps. You don't want loose clamps.

"And should I be pressing pp1 and trying to keep my right wrist bent throughout the entire swing?"

For a hitter starting at impact address, yes. It starts bent and stays bent (frozen).

"Stance: err toward the narrower side of things or the wider side of things?"

Both: Driver=wide, SW=narrow

"Ball Position: err toward forward or backward?"

SW=middle, Driver=forward

"Err toward standing closer to it or farther from it?"

It depends on who you are. I've seen exaggerations of both. Get the alignments of the hands and arms right and I'll bet you'll be the right distance away. DO NOT "let the arms hang comfortably."

"Shaft: "in line with the right forearm at address"- what does that mean? I know this may sound really stupid, but does "in line" mean literally as if the shaft and my right forearm form one straight, unbroken stick? If so, then, for me at least, this necessitates my dropping the right elbow down a couple of inches in order to achieve this, which feels really unnatural and convoluted."

Maybe unnatural compared to your 'normal'. It would be a perfectly straight line until you add wrist bend, but it's still on the same plane.

"Takeaway: STRAIGHT back (meaning clubface looking at the ball as long as possible) or what? When I do this, it seems as though I have to almost re-route the club back behind me and to the inside (after getting to the top) in order to hit from the inside and down-and out. I know this is an awful explanation so let me put it another way- straight back feels like a steep plane, which isn't a problem in and of itself, but then I'm hitting out to right field, so my kind-of straighter/steeper plane must now change to a new, more back-and-inside-and-behind-me one, in order that I may come from there into the inside, bottom left quadrant of the ball. What am I missing? Again, sorry for the horribly phrased question(s)- I'm doing my best."

The cubface opens and closes. Don't keep it square.


"Another thing- what does Right Forearm Pickup mean, exactly? Lift the club "up" immediately or pull it straight back with the right forearm AND THEN move up? Or some combination?"

The body pivot (horizontal rotation) along with the bending of the right elbow (vertical lifting) creates an angled plane. It's not around then up, and it's not up then around, it's up and around simultaneously.

"Maintaining the FLW/BRW: all the way past the ball? My God- how?"

Pressure

"Target: Since I'm coming from the inside out, shouldn't my "target line" be an inch or so outside of the top right hand corner of the ball? I mean, my clubface obviously points toward my real target (the flag, or whatever), but shouldn't I be concentrating on "right field," including looking out there before I swing? After all, isn't that where I'm trying to go, directionally, with the club? Aren't I trying to hit down and out on a more or less 45* angle to the actual, desired, intended line of flight?"

See the geometry of the circle that Yoda drew for 12piece. It's in 12piece's room. You need to see the three dimensional geometry of the circle.

"Hips: Bumping toward right field to begin the downswing, or no?"

It depends on your delivery line.

"And if yes- is there anyway I can forget about them and concentrate solely on my upper body (hands, forearm, whatever)- because every time I add some lower body downswing trigger, I mess something else up/forget something I'm supposed to do. Can I "forget" about my lower body or do I need to consciously do something?"

9-1; "Emphatically, Hands are not educated until they control the Pivot."

"Also, how much should my hips turn on the backswing?"

Enough to get the right shoulder on plane.

"Practicing in my living room: what should I be doing initially?"

Get an impact bag and some dowels. Get the address alignments and learn impact fix.

WHEW! My brain hurts.